Method for continuous treatment of bundles of filaments and yarns with steam

ABSTRACT

A HIGH SPEED HIGH TEMPERATURE TREATING PROCESS SUCH AS DYEING, BLEACHING AND SCOURING, FOR ELONGATED FIBROUS STOCK COMPRISING CONTINUOUS FILAMENTS OR YARNS THE PROCESS COMPRISING, BEFORE INTRODUCING THE FIBROUS STOCK INTO A HIGH TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE SATURATED STEAMING ZONE THROUGH PRESSURE SEALING MEANS, SUBJECTING THE STOCK TO A PREPARATORY MECHANICAL FLATTENING AND STRAIGHTENING STEP TO REMOVE IRREGULARITIES IN THE STOCK, STEAM STRETCHING THE FIBROUS STOCK WHEREIN THE CONSTITUENT FILAMENTS OR YARNS ARE ARRANGED SUBSTANTIALLY IN PARALLEL CONDITION OR YARNS, AND PREFERABLY STEAM STRETCHING BEYOND THE MECHANICALLYSTRAIGHTENED LENGTH OF THE STOCK TO SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETELY REMOVE RESIDUAL SLIGHT IRREGULARITIES IN THE STOCK, PASSING THE STROCK IN A SIMILAR CONDITION AS ABOVE THROUGH A PADDING BATH, SQUEEZING EXCESS LIQUID FROM THE PADDED   STOCK, AND CONCENTRATING THE FLATTENED FIBROUS STOCK INTO A ROUND TOW FORM.

Aug. 29, 1972 M E A A 3,687,607

.METHOD FOR CONTINUOUS TREATMENT OF BUNDLES 0F FILAMLNTS AND YARNS WITHSTEAM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 8, 1971 FIG/I (A) ll7- 205 L FIG. 1(8)TTTF'TT E 89b Hlu 3,687 MENTS g- 29, 1972 ASAHIDE YAZAWA v NUOUSTREATMENT OF BUNDLES 0F FILA METHOD FOR CON'lI AND YARNS WITH STEAMFiled Feb. 8, 1971 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2( A) FIG. 2(8) FIG. 2(C) Aug.29, 1972 MASAHIDE YAZAWA 3,687,607

METHOD FOR CONTINUOUS TREATMENT OF BUNDLES OF FILAMENTS AND YARNS WITHSTEAM 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 8, 1971 FIG. 7

I ll

FIG. 3

Aug. 29, 1972 MASAHIDE YAZAWA METHOD FOR CONTINUOUS TREATMENT OF BUNDLESOF FILAMENTS AND YARNS WITH STEAM Filed Feb. 8, 1971 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

IOl

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FIG. 6

STEAM INLET United States Patent F 3,687,607 METHOD FOR CONTINUOUSTREATMENT OF BUNI LES OF FILAMENTS AND YARNS WITH STEAM Masahide Yazawa,Tokyo, Japan, assignor to Kabushiki Kaisha Kobunshi Kalro Kenkyujo,Tokyo, Japan Continuation-impart of abandoned application Ser. No.811,560, Mar. 28, 1969. This application Feb. 8, 1971, Ser. No. 113,413

Claims priority, application Japan, June 5, 1968-, 43/38,852 Int. Cl.D06e 1/00, 3/16 US. Cl. 8-1491 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Ahigh speed high temperature treating process such as dyeing, bleachingand scouring, for elongated fibrous stock comprising continuousfilaments or yarns the process comprising, before introducing thefibrous stock into a high temperature and pressure saturated steamingzone through pressure sealing means, subjecting the stock to apreparatory mechanical flattening and straightening step to removeirregularities in the stock, steam stretching the fibrous stock whereinthe constituent filaments or yarns are arranged substantially inparallel condition or yarns, and preferably steam stretching beyond themechanicallystraightened length of the stock to substantially completelyremove residual slight irregularities in the stock, passing the stock ina similar condition as above through a padding bath, squeezing excessliquid from the padded stock. and concentrating the flattened fibrousstock into a round tow form.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application is acontinuation-in-part application of copending US. application Ser. No.811,560, entitled Process for the Continuous Steaming of ElongatedFibrous Material, filed Mar. 28, 1969, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to improvements in a process for the continuous steam processingof filament tows or yarns, spun yarns and like elongated fibrous stock.These filaments or yarns may be partially warped under certaincircumstances.

Description of the prior art It is the main object of the presentinvention to provide a process of the above kind which is capable ofproviding a highly stabilized even-treating elfect upon the processedfibrous material, yet within a time period as short as possible, forexample, one minute, in the case of performing at least a specificprocessing step, such as for instance scouring, bleaching, dyeing or thelike of elongated fibrous stock.

The process proposed by the present invention can be most advantageouslyapplied to the dyeing of elongated fibrous stock. Thus, by way ofexample, the description of the present invention is based in thisspecification primarily on such a dyeing process.

It is commonly known that when dyeing a fibrous material, an even dyeingis the most predominant factor for improving the commercial value of theprocessed stock.

Another requirement for the dyeing is to carry it out at the highestpossible operating speed. Both of these requirements are incontradiction to each other.

3,687,607 Patented Aug. 29, 1972 The processing time period required fordyeing by the conventional hank dyeing process generally amounts toabout 1-2 hours per each batch of the fibrous stock being dyed. It willconsume 56 hours when taking the subsequent soaping, oiling, drying andthe like after-processing periods into consideration. This will applysubstantially to the cone or cheese dyeing technique. In addition tothis lower processing efiiciency, that is, lower productivity, it shouldbe noted that this kind of prior art can provide only defective productsfrom the point of view of even coloring.

Top dyeing techniques assure better quality dyed products in comparisonWith other conventional dyeing techniques. However, this kind of dyeingprocess also has a drawback of low processing efliciency similar tothose mentioned above. In addition, this processing mode cannot beutilized for the continuous dyeing of filaments.

In order to obviate the aforementioned conventional drawbacks, variousmodern high speed, high temperature machines have been proposed whereinan elongated and large-size steaming stationary autoclave is employedand the elongated fibrous stock is guided along a zigzag passage withinthe autoclave' space, so as to reduce the overall dimensions of theapparatus.

I have found, however, that a steam treating process of an elongatedfibrous stock at a high travel speed, such as 50-100 meters per minute,can be carried out in a saturated steam atmosphere at a specific hightemperature selected according to the nature of the constituent fibersof the stock to be processed, when done with care to avoid otherwisepossible damage to the fibers which are naturally highly sensitive tomechanical stresses at such a high temperature as above-mentioned.

For this purpose, a steaming autoclave, which is designed 'with care toimpart the least possible damage to the fibers, can be used. Such anautoclave is, for instance, an elongated straight-line pipe autoclave,an autoclave having inside rollers, over which the stock travels to andfro along the straight passages between them to get the necessarydwelling time for processing, the autoclave shown in FIGS. 2 or 3 of US.Patent No. 3,213,470, or in FIGS. 1 or 2 of U.S. Patent No. 2,954,687both issued to the present inventor, or the like, which are well knownamong those skilled in the art. It is preferable that the fibrous stocks guided through the autoclave in a flattened state.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a high speed,high temperature treating process such as dyeing, bleaching andscouring, for elongated fibrous stock comprising continuous filaments oryarns, the process comprising, before introducing the fibrous stock intoa high temperature and pressure saturated steaming zone through pressuresealing means, subjecting the stock to a preparatory mechanicalflattening and straightening step to remove irregularities in the stock,steam stretching the fibrous stock wherein the constituent filaments oryarns are arranged substantially in parallel condition or yarns, andpreferably steam stretching beyond the mechanically-straightened lengthof the stock to substantially completely remove residual slightirregularities in the stock, passing the stock in a similar condition asabove through a padding bath, squeezing excess liquid from the paddedstock, and concentrating the flattened fibrous stock into a round towform.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C are schematic side views of a processing plantembodying the principles of the present invention wherein the partialviews (A), (B) and (C) are shown separately and in succession from A toC and the mutual joining lines are shown at 8-8 and T-T',

respectively, several constituents being shown in partial section forclear representation of the inner parts.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are schematic plan views of the plant shown inFIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C in a series oi partial views in a similar manner asabove, wherein the mutual joining lines are shown at UU', V-V, and W-W',respectively.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic top plan view of a steam stretchingcylinder assembly employed in the plant shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a substantially sectional yet somewhat reduced view of thecylinder assembly shown in FIG. 3, together with a schematic arrangementview of several related stock-guiding and feeding rollers.

FIGS. 5 (A) and 5 (B) are enlarged plan views of an elongated straightline steaming piping, especially its sketches, the joining line of whichis shown at X-X.

FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B) are elevational views of the steaming piping, themain working parts thereof being shown in section or as partially brokenaway.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the delivery means for the fibrousstock to be processed which means may be replaced by a correspondingpart of the plant shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, or additionally fitted to theprocessing plant.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS For processing thestock in a high pressure saturated steam atmosphere and yet economizingthe processing steam, the inlet and outlet ends of the steamingautoclave must be eitectively sealed 011? relative to the travelingfibrous stock. It is therefore further proposed according to thisinvention to pass the fibrous stock in the form of a round tow or thelike concentrated state of the continuous fibers or yarns, as the casemay be, through both ends of the steaming autoclave. The term round towindicates a. tow or tow-like elongated bundle of filaments or yarns,which has a round, elliptical or roundish rectangular crosssection. Inthis way, the fibrous stock per se is utilized effectively as a movingstufiing material for avoiding a substantial leakage of the processingsteam from the steaming autoclave. This stufiing function is naturallycontrolled for the purpose of sealing the high pressure steam withoutinjuring the stock and economizing the processing steam by appropriatepressurizing'and compacting of the round tow of fibrous stock at thesealing means on both ends of the steaming autoclave. In this way, thenecessary pressure and temperature of the processing steam are realizedwith minimum possible leakage in order to drive out the air entrainedwithin the stock and to steam the fibrous stock almost instantly, thatis to say, within 30-60 seconds.

For carrying out a liquid treatment, such as a dyeing step, of theelongated fibrous stock, it is necessary to bring the constituentfilaments or yarns into the most even contact with and to provide themost even take-up of the liquid dyeing solution as is possible. In orderto realize this requirement, it is an essential procedure in thisinvention to remove crimps, bends, occasional partial slacking and thelike disordered arrangements of the fibers of the filaments or the yarnsfrom their true straight line configuration to the highest degreepossible. For this purpose, the fibrous stock is first subjected to amechanical straightening step by passing the stock through one or morecreels or more specifically groups of zigzag-arranged straightener bars.When the starting elongated fibrous material is in the form of one ormore tows, the straightener bar group or groups serve as broadeningmeans which act to broaden the tow or tows into the respective fibrouslayer stocks so as to arrange the constituent fibers or yarns in asubstantial parallel condition. According to any practical experiments,such mechanical straightening step or steps do not completely remove theaforementioned disorders which provide residual irregularities in thestock,

leading to uneven take-up of the treating liquid such as a dyeingsolution at a later stage of the process and resulting incorrespondingly uneven dyeing or like undesired effects.

The mechanically straightened and (in addition) broadened fibrous stockthen undergoes a steam stretching step to substantially completelyremove residual irregularities, by subjecting it to a stretching underelevated temperature, preferably beyond the mechanically-straightenedlength of the stock. This procedure is the most important one in thisinvention and by introducing this procedure otherwise unattainablesubstantially evenly-processed products can be obtained.

Upon being thus treated, the fibrous layer stock with its constituentfilaments or yarns arranged in a substantially parallel and flattenedcondition is passed through a treating bath such as liquid vat or thelike dyeing solution, and then squeezed. In advance of squeezing, thevatted stock is preferably passed through one or more creeling stages asin the case of the foregoing straightening step, for evenly distributingthe vatted solution among the flattened layer of filaments or the likefibrous material. This is another important procedure in this invention.

At the time of squeezing, the liquid take-up quantity by the filamentstock is preferably regulated to be at a possible minmurn so that atransfer of the taken-up solution among the filaments or yarns in thesubsequent steaming procedure cannot take place to any appreciabledegree.

This is a further important procedure in this invention to avoidotherwise possible uneven treatments.

As above-mentioned, the taken-up liquid quantity in the fibrous stock isless than the conventional liquid treating processes so that theconcentration of treating chemical, for instance a dyestuff, in thetreating bath should be ad justed to a value at which the predeterminedamount of the treating chemical can be caught among the fibrous stockafter squeezing.

Then, the vatted and squeezed fibrous stock is concentrated from itsbroadened layer state into a round tow-like state so as to be easilyintroduced into the steaming autoclave through its reduced andpressurizing inlet means, as above described in detail.

The steamed fibrous stock taken out in the form of a round tow or thelike concentrated state from the steaming autoclave is passed againthrough a zigzag-shaped guide passage as in the preparatory stage forrespreading it into a layer state wherein the constituent filaments oryarns are arranged substantially in parallel condition and after beingsubjected to various kinds of necessary aftertreatments, the productsmay be wound-up on a core bobbin or the like winder means.

When crimped products are desired, the padded, broadened, steamed,after-treated and rebroadened fibrous layer stock may be introduced intoa conventional stutter.

With modern conventional high-speed high-temperature dyeing machines,continuous filament tows or yarn bundles may be dyed and steamed withina short time period such as 2-3 minutes. However, on account of the lackof efficient sealing means, the temperature of the treating steam islimited to about C. However, if it is desired to dye and steam polyesterfibers within the above specified short period, say, within a minute,use of high temperature steam such as at C. or so, is necessary andtherefore this is impracticable to realize with the use of conventionalmachines.

The thickness of the broadended layer of fibrous material from thesupplied tow at the preparatory mechanical straightening step maygenerally amount to 4-6 mm. and the layer at this step contains from10,000 to 30,000 denier of fibrous stock per 10 mm. of width. After thesteam stretching step, prior to the main steaming process, the thicknessof the layer stock may generally amount to 1-2 mm. After squeezing, itwill be reduced to 0.2-0.3 mm. This broadening is another very importantprocedure in this invention.

When the process according to this invention is applied to the dyeing ofcontinuous fibrous material, for instance, using an elongated straightline pipe autoclave, the preparatory treating and padding andafter-treating appliances, except the steaming autoclave or autoclaves,are mounted and arranged above the elongated straight line steaming pipeautoclave, which extends generally for a distance of 50-60 meters. Byemploying this procedure, the overall space requirement of the plant canbe reduced to a possible minimum.

On account of the usage of higher steaming temperatures after paddingemployed in the present process, the dyestuif used must naturally have aheat resisting nature. It is required, of course, to use dyestuffs whichare durable at the steaming temperature, specifically determined by theproperties of the fiber stock to be treated; for instance in polyesters,as high as 170 C., when a possible maximum processing speed is to berealized.

As examples of suitable dyestuffs, conventional cationic dyestuffs suchas Sevron (Du Pont), Astrazon (Bayer A. G.), Cathilon (Hodogaya ChemicalWorks, Hodogaya, Japan) may be used for dyeing acrylic fibers or yarns.For polyester fibers or yarns, conventional dispersed dyes may well beused.

When tows of non-twisted filaments are processed according to theconventional technique, considerable difficulties will be encountered bythe very presence of substantial fiutfs and frequent filament breakagewhich are normally brought about during the processing, take-out andrearrangement stage of the tow. When relying upon the present improvedprocess, the above problems may be substantially obviated.

According to the present invention, the quantity of liquid take-up bythe filament stock after squeezing is regulated to be at a possibleminimum so that a transfer of the taken-up solution among the filamentsor yarns during passage through the several processing steps does nottake place to any appreciable degree which leads to the suppression ofgeneration of otherwise possible uneven dyeing as hereinbeforementioned.

Although in the foregoing description, the present invention has beendirected toward a dyeing technique, in practice, however, the inventionis not limited only thereto. The present process may equally be appliedto other various treatments such as scouring, bleaching, and/ or thelike processing modes, so far as a liquid treatment as well as steamingof continuous fibrous stock is to be performed.

These and further objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of substantially one embodiment by reference to theaccompanying drawings showing a plant where the straight line pipeautoclave is adapted as an example of the autoclaves available for usein this invention for carrying out the process of the present inventionand constituting part of the present specification,

as well as the several preferred numerical examples to be set forthhereinafter.

Referring now to the drawings, especially FIGS. 1A- IC and 2A-2D, anembodiment of a line processing plant adapted for the practice of thepresent process will be described in detail.

In this plant, there is provided an elongated base frame, generallyshown at 10, on which two series of corrugated and openable carton boardcontainers 11-16 and 17-22 are slidably mounted. For simplicity purposesin the drawing, only the exterior configuration of these containers isshown in chain-dotted lines, except that the configuration denoted inFIG. 1B which is in operating position together with its companioncontainer 21 which belongs to the container series adjacent the seriesincluding container 15, the latter being shown in FIG. 1B in a moreconcrete form and partially in section. Containers 11-15 and 17-21 eachcontain a crimped filament tow, while those shown at 16 and 22 are emptysince the tows originally 6 contained therein have been removed for theprocessing according to this invention.

A tow is being taken out from container 15 from its packaged mass 15',said tow being shown only by a single line at 23 although its practicaloverall denier amounts generally to 300,000-500,000 denier. Naturally, asimilar tow is being taken out from companion container 21. Of course,the number of tows being simultaneously and parallely processed can beincreased to any selected more numerous value, such as ten, In thefollowing description, only one tow, taken from container 15, will bereferred to for simplicity of description and without prejudice to abetter understanding of the present invention.

The upwardly drawn-out tow 23 is passed around a plurality of (five suchguide bars being used as an example) zigzag-arranged stationary guidebars 24-28, each having, for example, a diameter of 20 mm., said barsbeing supported between a pair of separately and rigidly mountedsupporting plates 29 and 30 (see FIG. 2C) on the upper part of anoverhead frame, generally shown at 31 in FIG. 1C. In FIG. 1B, the frontsupporting plate 29 has been omitted from the drawing for a clearrepresentation of said bars.

There are provided two separated groups of stationary guide bars 32-34and 35-37 rigidly mounted on supporting plates 40, 41 and 42, 43 on theupper part of frame 31 (see FIG. 2D) respectively, each group of saidguide bars being zigzag arranged in a similar way to the first guidegroup 24-28. It has been found that by passing the tow through theseguide bar groups, each time in a zigzag and alternating way, the tow istransformed into or developed into a flattened fibrous layer of about10,000- 30,000 denier per 10 millimeters of width, whereby the originalcrimps are substantially straightened, as is supposed from the schematicrepresentation at 38 in FIGS. 2A-2'D upon passage through the first towflattening and straightening stage using the guide bars 24-28. Thesecond guide bar group 32-34 and the third group 35-37 naturallyconstitute, respectively, further tow flattening and straighteningstages. As described above, guide bars 32-34 and 35-37 are rigidlymounted on respective pairs of mounting plates 40, 41 and 42, 43, asshown in FIG. 2D. In 'FIGS. LB and 1C, however, side mounting plates 29,40 and 42 have been omitted for a clearer representation in the drawing.Each group of guide-bars used to flatten and straighten the fibrousstock may be replaced by an assembly of bars capable of changing theirarrangement.

The Ifibrous layer emerging at 39 from the third stage is then conveyeddownwards to the nip line formed between a pair of pinch rollers 143 and44, having each an outside diameter of 225 mm., for example, and beingforcedly driven at a common rotational speed between -95 r.p.m., by wayof example.

The driving means for the pinch rollers 143 and 44 comprises anindependent electric motor 48 and conventional transmission means 49 asschematically shown in FIG. 2D.

The fibrous layer 45 is then conveyed upwardly as shown in FIG. 1C tofurther stationary guide bars 46 and 47, preferably of 30 mm. diameter,and rigidly mounted on the overhead part of frame 31, and thenintroduced into the top of a hollow steaming cylinder 50 which isrigidly mounted on the frame 31.

As is schematically shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the steaming cylinder orstretcher 50 has a rectangular configuration when seen in plane view('FIG. 3) and is provided with a diverging inlet piece 51 and aconverging outlet piece 52 at its upper and lower ends, respectively. Inclose proximity to the lower end, the cylinder 50 is connected withsteam pipe 53 fitted with an adjustable valve 54, a drain discharge pipe55 outgoing from the bottom of said cylinder and an on-off control valve56 titted in discharge pipe 55, as is schematically shown in FIG. 4.

The fibrous layer 45 is introduced under tension into cylinder 50through inlet piece the interior space of said cylinder being filledwith steam at atmospheric pressure and at nearly 100 C. The fibrouslayer is stretched substantially by 3-10% during steaming within thecylinder to remove residual crimps and bends, and taken out from thecylinder through outlet piece 52. The condensate of the treating steamcondensed on the inside cylinder wall is accumulated in the bottom partof the cylinder space and finally discharged through drain pipe 55 to acertain drainage, not shown. At this step, care must be paid not tocontaminate the stock too much with the condensate.

The thus-steamed fibrous layer stoc-k at 5 7 is then passed over astationary guide bar 58 which is rigidly mounted on the frame 31, andconveyed through a nip line between a further pair of pinch rollers 59and 60 rotatably mounted on bed frame 178. These rollers may be ofsimilar design and arrangement as rollers 143 and 44, yet being drivenat a common rotational speed of preferably 88-98 r.p.m. The deliveredstock is then dipped into a vat bath contained within container vessel63 (see FIG. 1C) upon passage around stationary bar 61 and by passagearound a further guide bar 62 which is rigidly supported in the vesseland dipped in the bath. .This vessel is rigidly mounted on base frame178, although the mounting means have been omitted for simplicity. Thebath liquid may be of any kind of treating liquid as occasion maydesire, but in the present embodiment the bath consists of a pool of adyeing solution prepared for padding.

The thus-vetted fibrous layer stock 64 is passed upwardly and in azigzag way through two groups of stationary bar guides, 65-69 and 70-75,each being preferably of 20 mm. diameter. The uppermost bars 69 and "75may be, however, replaced by freely rotatable rollers, each beingpreferably of 100 mm, diameter, and freely rotatable, the rotating speedbeing from 200 to 216 r.p.m.

The thus-evenly padded fibrous stock is then passed around a freelyrotatable roller 76 which may be of 100 mm. diameter and fed to the nipline formed between a pair of powerful squeezing rollers 77 and 78 whicheach have a diameter of 300 mm., for example, and are forcedly driven at66-73 r.p.m. The squeezing pressure is so regulated that the fibrousstock having passed through said nip line may take up the predeterminedquantity of the treating liquid.

The squeezed-out liquid is conveyed inversely along the travelingfibrous stock back into the vat bath in a counter flow mode andgenerally in the form of a stream and mixed with the liquid which isbeing conveyed by the upwardly traveling fibrous stock. Therefore, inadvance of the squeezing operation, the stock is supplied with asufiicient quantity of the treating liquid for assuring an even andsufiicient supply of the liquid to the traveling stock which is, uponsqueezing, conveyed in a zigzag way through a plurality of stationaryguide bars 79-84 arranged generally in a horizontal line on the upperpart of mounting frame 87 (see FIG. 1C) which may be, however, unitedinto one common frame with that denoted 31, if necessary. The frame 87mounts said several constituent members 61, 65-84. Several preferredguide bars such as at 80-82 may be replaced by freely rotatable rollerscalled dancer rollers each of which generally has a diameter of 100 mm.and a rotational speed of 200- 216 r.p.m. These stationary guide barsare bent longitudinally to a certain extent so as to converge theconstituent fibers of the fed fibrous stock from the squeezing rollers77 and 78 and arranged in the form of parallel continuous filaments,into a tow-like fiber bundle.

This bundle at 88 is conveyed substantially vertically downward and thenturned in its traveling direction substantially 90 by passage through apair of guide rollers and 86, each having a diameter of 20 mm. and beingdriven preferably at 100-110 r.p.m., and finally fed to the inlet orright-hand end 891: of a steam-processing pipe autoclave 89, having aconsiderable length such as 50 meters and being arranged horizontallyand preferably along the longitudinal axis of base frames 10 and 178which may be united into a common frame when necessary.

The steam-processing pipe autoclave 89' is shown more in detail in FIGS.5 and 6, especially at its inlet and outlet ends. At the inlet, aconverging mouth piece 90 is rigidly connected with the outer end of aninlet pipe -91, the inner end of the latter being connected with a stockpressurizing and sealing device, generally shown at 92. This device 92is a kind of nozzle valve such as disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,954,687,granted Oct. 4, 1960 to M. Yazawa and M. Arakawa. Therefore, referenceshould be had to the disclosed prior US. patent, especially in FIGS. 5and 6, respectively thereof, and the related parts of the specification,when necessary. Although only one inlet nozzle valve 92 is shown inFIGS. 5 and 6, the number may be increased to 3-5, as exemplarilyrepresented at the end of the autoclave 89 concerning the stockpressurizing and sealing means -102 for stock outlet. Thecross-sectional configuration of the pressure sealing means may beelliptical or flattened-rectangular, but it is more preferable that itbe circular.

The inlet pipe 91 is connected at its inlet end, having inserted thereinnozzle valve 92, with an extension 91a which extends into the interiorspace of the steaming piping 89, and an inlet for steam supply ispositioned at 103. Due to the pressurizing and sealing means at theinlet, the steam leaking through the sealing means in countercurrentmode to the fibrous stock being introduced drives out the air entrainedin the stock almost completely, and the steam inside the autoclavebecomes substantially in the saturated condition. This fact enables oneto regulate the temperature of the processing steam by only theregulating pressure thereof inside of the autoclave. At the inner end ofpipe element 89a there is provided a group of drawing rollers 104, and106 (see FIG. 1C) for receiving the fibrous stock in the form of a towand for delivering the latter to the next pipe element 89b. Then, thefibrous round tow is delivered further through an expansion joint 107(FIG. 1B) and an inspecting hole chamber with a steam trap valve 108 tothe outlet end of the final piping element 89d after passage throughpipe element 890 and 89d. Drawing rollers 104-106 are driven from anindependent electric motor 109 and a transmission means 110, asschematically shown in FIG. 2. Rollers 104-106 each have a diameter of225 mm., as an example, and are rotated at 88-98 r.p.m. and contained inthe housing 111 from which the accumulated drain is drawn out through adrain discharge valve 112. The number of expansion joint housings withan inspecting hole and a steam trap valve, such as chamber 108, may beequally increased as desired, although not shown.

At the outlet end of piping 89, there is provided a converging mouthpiece 11C: (FIG. 6) within the interior space of the piping forreceiving the delivered tow-like stock in an optimum manner, theconverging end of piece 113 being connected with the inner end of outletpipe 114 which extends from inside of piping 89 through end flange 11%and a plurality of stock pressurizing and sealing devices 100-102. Thedesign and function of these devices are similar to those of thecorresponding inlet device 92.

The thus-steam-processed fibrous stock shown at 115 in FIG. 1A isconveyed to the nip line formed between a pair of take-out rollers 116and 117 and then passed around stationary guides 118 and 119,alternately, and conveyed to overhead stationary guide '120 mounted onthe top of mounting frame 121 mounted in turn on base frame 10. Therollers each have a diameter of 200 mm.,

for example, and are driven at 95-104 r.p.m. by an independent electricmotor 122 through a suitable gearing 123 (FIG. 2A).

From the guide 120, the fibrous stock is delivered substantiallyvertically downward into a soaping bath contained in reservoir 124fixedly mounted on frame 121, the bath liquid consisting of an aqueousmixture of a soaping agent with Water, as is commonly employed. Thesoaped stock 145 is passed around two stages of stationary guide bars125-128 vertically upwards in an alternating or zigzag way and thenthrough guides 129-132 vertically downwards in a similar way. Thesoaping bath may be replaced by a certain medicament solution such asthat of a reducing agent, an oxidizing agent or the like. Then thefibrous stock is passed successively through a number of cleaning bathswith water, said baths being contained in corresponding containers133-135. Although only three of these baths are shown, the number may beincreased as desired.

There are also provided squeezing roller pairs 140, 141; 142, 144; and146, 147. Each roller 140, 141; 142, 144 has a diameter of 20 mm. and isdriven at 95-104 r.p.m. In a similar way, each roller 146 and 147 has adiameter of 225 mm. and is driven at 84-92 r.p.m. As shown in FIG. 1Athe fibrous stock is guided alternately through a number ofzigzag-arranged and freely-rotatable guide rollers generally shown at154 representatively for the cleaning bath 133.

During passage through guide bars 118-120, the fibrous stock isbroadened into a thin layer of filaments so as to receive an evensoaping, cleaning and the like liquid treatments. The thus-treated andcleaned fibrous layer 150 is conveyed from the final squeezing rollerpair 146, 147 over a stationary guide bar 151 into oiling bath 159 bypassing around guide bars 152 and 153 in the bath.

Then, the oiled fibrous layer is passed through the nip line formedbetween pinch rollers 148, 149 and around stationary guide bars 155-157in a zigzag way. These members 148, 149, 155-157 are mounted on a rigidframe 158, although the mounting means have been omitted for simplicity.Bars 155-157 may be replaced by respective rollers called dancerrollers.

The fibrous layer stock thus-treated is subjected to a drying step byalternately passing around a series of steamheated drums 160-167substantially under a constant tension. For this purpose, the drums160-167, each having a diameter of 571.5 mm., are driven at successivelyreduced rotational speeds 35-31 r.p.m., in order to compensate for thedeveloped thermal shrinkage of the fibrous stock under treatment. Forcomparison, it may be mentioned, the takeout rollers 116, 117, eachbeing of 200 mm. diameter, are driven at 95-104 r.p.m. Squeezing rollers140, 141 and 142, 144, each having a diameter of 200 mm., respectively,are driven at 95-104 r.p.m., and roller pair 146, 147, each having adiameter of 225 mm., are driven at 84-92 r.p.m., respectively. Guidebars 155-157, each having a diameter of 100 mm., may be replaced byrespective similar rollers which will freely rotate at 191-207 r.p.m.

The fibrous stock thus dried is passed around freely rotatable guiderollers 168 and 169, preferably of 100 mm. diameter, and let into ahumidity controlling chamber 170 vertically upwards, said chamber beingshaped into a steaming cylinder in a similar manner to that shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. The steamed fibrous layer stock is then taken out fromthe chamber 170 by means of a pair of pinch rollers 171 and 172, havingeach a diameter of 200 mm. and being driven at 85-95 r.p.m., forexample, and then concentrated into a round-like tow shape by passingaround a series of freely rotatable guide rollers 173-175 (FIG. 2B),each having a diameter of 100 mm. Finally, this processed round tow isWound up by a widing roll 176. There is provided a further winding roll177 for another parallel product.

The horizontally arranged elongated steaming pipe autoclave 89 maypreferably have a diameter of 150-180 mm. for the processing of a towhaving 300,000-500,000 overall denier. The processing steam is suppliedpreferably at both ends thereof as schematically shown at 103 and 203 inFIGS. 1C and 1A, respectively. Exhausting chambers serving to removeleaking steam and the like are schematically shown at 204 and 205 inFIGS. 1C and 1A, respectively. Alternatively, the steam may be suppliedto the elongated processing autoclave substantially at the central pointmeasured from both ends thereof, although this embodiment is not shown.

For introducing the processing fibrous stock such as that at 88 in FIG.1C into the processing autoclave 89, it is sufficient to provide atriple roller assembly such as shown at 104-106 in FIG. 1C, whichassembly is housed in the roller housing 111 which is arrangedpreferably at a distance of 3-10 meters measured from the inlet end. Theautoclave 89 is so designed and arranged that it can expand towards bothends thereof, upon being heated by the processing steam.

It is preferable to provide a stationary bent guide bar transversely tothe pipe autoclave 89 and directly at the front or behind of the rollergroup 104-106 to re-broaden the fibrous stock, although not shown. Incase of warped yarns, a comb plate may be provided in the similarmanner. For the introduction of the tow-like fibrous stock 88 into theautoclave 89, a guide wire or the bar-like member is attached to theinitial end of the stock to be processed after passing through thegroups of bars or roller means in the feed side and then introduced intothe inlet pipe 91 through mouthpiece 90.

The roller housing 111 is fitted with an openable cover 206 which isopened in advance of said introduction. When the guide wire or rod isseen as appearing at the inside chamber of the housing, the operatorgrips and draws it by hand to let it pass along the steaming autoclaveand let it as it goes. Then, the operator can finally catch it at theoutlet end. It is further preferable to attach a somewhat elongatedguide cloth band or the like more pliable guide means between the guidewire and the tow-like stock. For easy threading for this purpose, themiddle feed roll is preferably arranged in a manner similar to apivotable pinch roller as is frequently used for feeding a magnetic tapein conventional tape recorders.

When the operator can grip the tow-like stock at the roller housing 111,he must broaden the tow into the parallel arrangement of continuousfilaments. Then, the opened cover 206 can be closed again.

By passing the fibrous stock made into a flattened layer from thesupplied tow-like configuration through the steaming autoclave 89, thefibrous stock can be processed more evenly and more quickly than isotherwise possible. According to our experiments, the steam-processingthrough autoclave 89, having a travelling passage length of 50-60meters, can be performed within about one minute which means aremarkable progress in the art.

An inspecting hole device 108, similar to that of the housing 111 andfitted with an openable cover, may be provided between the housing 111and the outlet end of autoclave 89.

When the guide cloth band and the initial end of the fibrous stockappear at the outlet end of autoclave 89, all the supply quantities andtemperatures of the supply steam at the various points of the wholeplant are properly adjusted and then the regular operation thereof isinitiated.

In the autoclave, along a distance several meters from the inlet wherethe fibrous stock is not completely processed, it is preferable toprovide a long, steeply topped roof over the travelling stock for thepurpose of preventing the stock from other possible contamination whichis caused by drops of steam condensate occasionally falling down fromthe upper inside wall of the autoclave,

although not shown. A large number of guide bars having regular intervaldistances, preferably such as 1-2 meters, are provided transverselywithin the autoclave and near the bottom thereof for avoiding possiblecontact of the fibrous stock under treatment with the steam condensateaccumulated underneath. These guide bars may be of about 3 mm. indiameter. When such contact should occur, the fibrous stock may beconsiderably con- Laminated.

It may frequently happen that partially warped filaments or yarns areprocessed in place of a tow. In this case, the filaments or yarns aretaken out from rolled stock 207, 207, as shown schematically in FIG. 7through any one of guide bars or rollers 208 by a pair of feeding pinchrollers 209, 210, thence being conveyed to the pinch roller pair 143,44, in FIG. 1C. Further processing may be carried into effect as in theaforementioned way. hi this modified processing, however, most of theguide bars may preferably be replaced by corresponding warping combs andthe whole processing steps then completed, the processed products beingin the form of partially warped filament layers.

In the position of small exhausting chambers 204 and 205, correspondinghoods may be arranged so as to discharge unpleasant gases which maydevelop during the processing through the autoclave 89 leaking at theinlet and outlet ends thereof. These gases may comprise gases of aceticacid used as dyeing additive, or from a bleaching agent such as NaClOAlthough not shown for simplicity, the padding bath vessel 63 is fedwith a metered quantity of dyeing solution from a conventional meteringpump.

For removing fouling deposits from the working parts of the plant shownin case of, for instance, color changing, it is preferable to pass acleaning cloth band therethrough several times after impregnating themwith a cleaning liquid and water. In this Way, the fouling deposits canbe effectively removed, especially from the elongated steaming pipeautoclave 89.

In the steaming cylinder shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the introduced steamimpinges upon the outer peripheral surface of the cone-shaped outletmouthpiece 52, so that any steam condensate formed is not directlysprayed upon the outgoing fibrous stock. Due to this feature, thefilaments can be processed with the quality of the products beingsuperior.

Additionally, the travelling direction may equally be reversed, or morespecifically, the fibrous stock may be conveyed vertically upwards. Thedegree of stretching realizable during passage through the cylinder 50may vary from 3% to 10% in the case of tows, yet the stretching may be2-5% in the case of treatment of partially Warped continuous filaments.The steaming temperature may be 100 C., or so under atmosphericpressure.

In the processing in cylinder 50, caution must be paid to prevent anycontact of steam condensate with the processing stock, as was brieflyreferred to hereinabove. For this purpose, cone-shaped inlet piece 51 isprovided to prevent this contact to a substantial degree. The condensatedeposited on this piece is guided to flow along the inside and outsidecone surfaces to the upper part of the cylindrical inside wall surfaceof the steaming stretcher 50, and then therealong to the condensate poolformed in the inside bottom of the processing cylinder, together withthe newly deposited steam condensate on the inside cylinder surface. Aswas referred to above, the accumulated condensate is discharged throughdrain pipe 55 upon opening of the on-off control valve 56.

The stretcher cylinder 50 may be arranged horizontally if a certainmodification has been employed. However, in this case, caution isnecessary to avoid the occasional deposit of steam condensate on theprocessing stock. As an example, the fibrous stock travelling throughthe cylinder may be guarded with a steep cover plate arrangedsubstantially horizontally and above the stock so as to guide anydeveloped condensate on the cylinder, although not shown. A minorquantity of condensate adsorbed by the fibrous mass to raise thetemperature thereof does not adversely affect the fibrous mass to anappreciable degree. However, a considerable amount of condensatedeposited on and adsorbed by the fibrous stock will deteriorate thecomposition of the dyeing solution at the very spot where the absorbedwater is remaining, resulting in an uneven coloring of the products.

The process according to this invention can be applied to variousfibrous materials such as artificial and natural fibers. Especially, itis advantageous to treat artificial filaments, especially filament tows,such as those of regenerated cellulose; synthetic fibers of polyester,nylon, polyacrylonitrile, polyolefin, Vinylon, polyvinyl chloride,polyvinylidene, fluorine-containing polymers, acetates or the like;yarns composed of natural fibers, or a mixture of natural and artificialfibers; partially warped filament bundles, split fiber yarn bundles ofvarious synthetic polymers and/ or the like.

The process according to this invention is not limited to the scouring,bleaching and/ or dyeing of fibers, yarns or the like fibrous stock. Itis also applicable to other various after-treatments of theaforementioned fibrous stocks.

The main step in the processing of the fibrous stock, i.e., passing itthrough the steaming autoclave 89, when the fibers are composed of athermoplastic polymer, may be carried out with the highest possibletemperature saturated steam by which the loosening of the molecularorientation which results does not adversely affect the intendedpractical use of the final products, since the main processing periodthrough the autoclave extends for only a short time, such as 30-60seconds. For instance, polyester fibers can generally be treated withsteam of C. Fibers of a copolymer containing acrylonitrile as its maincomponent may be treated at 130-140 C. Nylon is preferably processed at130-160' C. The temperature thus specified can be set by regulating onlythe inside steam pressure of the autoclave, as aforementioned. For thetreatment of such thermoplastic fibers as above described, the feed-inrollers 104-106 may be arranged nearer to the inlet end of the autoclave89 than specified above. This means will allow the treating fibrousstock to pass without substantial adverse effects through the inletpressurizing and sealing means even with a considerable inlet resistancebecause it travels into the autoclave against the pressure insidethrough the limited passage at the inlet while the stock is not heatedup as much. The feed-in triple rollers arranged in a trilobate may benaturally replaced by other kinds of feed roller arrangements known perse.

The following several preferred numerical examples are given for abetter understanding of the present invention. Parts are given by weightwhen not otherwise specified.

Example 1.Two series of commercially available packages each of whichcontains 100 kgs. of a crimped filament tow, 500,000 denier, ofacrylonitrile series synthetic fibers named Cashmilon manufactured andsold by a Japanese firm, Asahi Kasei Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, of Osaka,Japan, were placed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the tows were taken outfrom the packages and each broadened to a fibrous layer stock in theaforementioned way to a width of 250 mm, viz., 20,000 denier per 10 mm.of width under tension so as to straighten the bearing crimps. Then, thestock was stretched by 4% in the course of passage through the steamstretching cylinder whereby the stock was in a perfectly straightenedand parallel condition and then conveyed to the dyeing aqueous bath 63in FIG. 1, said bath, 10 liters in volume, containing 1.5% of CathilonRed BLH; 5.4% of Cathilon Red 7BNH: 3.9% of Cathilon Yellow 3GLH; 2.5%of acetic acid; and 1.0% of a conventional tailing agent. These chemicalagents were perfectly dissolved. After passage through the padding bath,the fibrous stock was taken out therefrom and then passed in a generallyvertical and zigzag shaped guide passage for improving the evendistribution of the padded solution among the constituent filamentswhich were then passed through a pair of squeezing rollers such as thoseat 77, 78 shown in FIG. 1(C), under a pressure of 100 kgs. per cm. asmeasured along their nip line. The take-up liquid quantity amounted toabout 40% relative to the dry weight of the processing tow. Then, thefibrous stock was gradually concentrated into a round tow form, thetravelling direction being changed generally by 180 degrees, andintroduced into an inlet pipe provided with an adjustable pressurizingand sealing device. The front half of this inlet pipe had a bore of 13.5mm., while the rear half thereof had a bore of 12 mm., the overalllength of the pipe amounting to about 1 meter. Thence, the round tow wasled into an elongated steaming pipe autoclave such as shown at 89 inFIGS. 1 and 2, having a bore of 160 mm. and a length of 60 meters andbeing arranged horizontally as was referred to above. The piping was fedwith steam at 134 C. In close proximity to the triple feed rollers andin advance thereof, a bent transverse bar was provided for flatteningthe fed round tow to a width of about 120 mm., the introduction speed ofthe round tow amounting to 63 meters per minute. The steamed fibrousstock was reconcentrated into a round tow in close proximity to theoutlet end of said steaming autoclave so as to make the take-out of thestock easier. The take-out rollers such as at 116, 117 in FIG. 1A weredriven so as to catch and deliver the outgoing round tow at a speed of60 meters per minute and in a loosened condition.

The stock was broadened again and then conveyed to a soaping bath suchas that shown at 124 in FIG. 1(A), and passed through a zigzag-shapedtravelling passage, whereby the tow was flattened to a width of 400450mm., the general travelling direction being changed substantially by 180degrees. In this way, the flattened fibrous stock was passed through twosuccessive soaping baths, at 60 C., and through four successive rinsingbaths, and squeezed so as to remove excess liquid.

The fibrous stock was oiled, and then dried by passing the same over aplurality of steam-heated drier drums such as those at 160-167 in FIG.1(A). Then, the humidity of the stock was regulated by passing itthrough a steaming cylinder such as that shown at 170 in FIG. 1(A).

The thus-processed stock was then wound up by a bobbin while inserting apolyethylene film therebetween so as to provide each time a bundle ofthe stock consiting of substantially parallel continuous filament layersand amounting generally to 100 kgs. The dyed color tow was scarlet redand brilliant. The fastness of its color was of the fifth class, whichmeans the highest one.

Example 2.Two commercially available crimped tows of polyesterfilaments, 300,000 overall denier, were taken out from their respectivepackages and broadened as before so as to have a width of 200 mm. andthen subjected to a 4% stretch by passage through a steam stretchingcylinder, thus providing parallel-disposed constituent filaments. Then,the fibrous layer stock was passed through a padding vat consisting ofan aqueous solution containing:

1 1 Percent Resoline Blue-FBL (disperse dyestuif) 1.8 Amacron Orange LS(disperse dyestufi') 6 Disper TL (dispersant) 0.1

After squeezing, the liquid take-up amounted to 38%. Then, the fibrousstock further treated as before was introduced into an inlet piping,having bores of 13 mm., and mm., respectively, at its front and rearhalves, the overall length of the pipe being 1 meter as before.

The stock was introduced into a steaming autoclave as before and takenout therefrom. The autoclave was fed 14 with saturated steam of C. Thetaken-out stock was led to a bath containing:

The thus-treated stock was passed through a zigzag passage so as tobroaden the stock to a width of about 300 mm., the general travellingdirection being changed by substantially degrees, the reducing treatmentbeing carried out by means of two successive reducing baths, thence thestock being passed through two successive soaping baths and foursuccessive rinsing baths one after another. The further necessarytreatments such as oiling, drying, humidity-conditioning and winding-upoperations were being carried into effect as before.

In this way, a substantially parallel arrangement of continuouspolyester filaments was obtained. The color tone was a deep brown andexcellent. The dyed quality was the best.

With the use of a modified arrangement shown in FIG. 7, wherein therotational speeds of several sets of frictionally feeding rollers setsuch as at 209, 210 in place of a pair of pinching rollers were set tospeed higher than the travelling speed of the two employed in FIG. 1,four tows, each being of 300,000 denier, were processed. At first, eachset consisting of two tows was connected with each other by a leadingcloth strip, respectively. The arrangement was so adjusted that two setsof the thus parallel-connected tows had substantially equal tension atthe delivery side of the pinch roller pair 44, 143. Two sets of thesetows were mechanically broadened so as to have a width of 300400- mm.Further processing modes were similar as before, except that twoparallel steaming pipe autoclaves were employed instead of one and thecross-sectional area of the sealing means was increased about twice incomparison with the foregoing example. The final products delivered fromthe steaming autoclaves were separated into four stocks as they werebefore processing. In this way, four wound-up bobbins were provided. Theoutput capacity of the plant was doubled, and no difiiculty wasencountered.

Example 3.-500 cotton yarns, count 30, about 180 denier, were partiallywarped. These yarns had been incorporated with several weft yarns atboth ends during the warping operation for preventing the warpedcondition from being disturbed when unwinding. Six bobbins, each beingwound-up with such partially warped yarns, were placed in parallel andthe leading part of a lead cloth was cut in an oblong triangle to beeasily caught by the nip rollers and joined with the initial end of eachof the six warped yarns laid in parallel along the out line of the clothwithout disturbing the warped configuration of the yarns. Afteraccomplishing the abovedescribed preparatory operations, the parallelstocks taken out from these bobbins were fed from several pairs ofpreliminarily processing rollers 208410, and supplied through pinchroller 44, 143 in FIG. 7 into the stretcher cylinder 50. The degree ofstretching was selected to 2%. In this way, the yarns were neatlyprepared and kept in an equally lined-up condition with each other.Inherent irregularities were removed as much as possible substantiallyto their ideal condition. The steamed and stretched yarn bands deliveredfrom the cylinder 50 each had a width of 300 mm. Then, they were paddedwith a solution of NaClO- so as to pick up thereby 1.5% of the chemicalagent. One band of the thus-padded yarns was then passed through anelongated and horizontally mounted steaming pipe autoclave heated at 130C. with saturated steam for carrying out an effective bleaching. All thepipings were made of titanium. The yarn band thus treated was thensubjected to broadening, washing and drying steps successively asbefore.

The broadened and yarn-parallel band was then passed through a paddingbath so as to pick up 2% of Sirius Supra Blue-'BRL direct dye relativeto the yarn weight After mangling, the padded yarn band was passedthrough the second steaming pipe autoclave kept at 150 C. Furtherprocessing modes were as before. In this way, the yarns were dyed to abrilliant blue color tone. The products were wound up on six separatebobbins, each wound yarn bundle being attached with a polyethylene filmas before. The products could be easily warped again.

With the use of NaClO the bleaching was performed simultaneously withscouring. The preparatory treated yarns in the above-mentioned mannerwere highly ready for dyeing so that the otherwise difficult developmentof an intermediate or lighter color tone could be easily brought about.

Cotton yarns are generally scoured by means of a NaOH-solution inadvance of the padding step. With the use of the aforementionedapparatus shown in the drawings, the yarns may be treated with a S%-NaOHsolution preliminarily and then the padded yarns may be steamed at140-150 C. with the use of the steaming autoclave 80. In this way, thescouring may be carried out, indeed, within only one minute.

In a similar manner as above stated, a continuous operation for scouringand dyeing may be performed in two stages in the same processing plantshown and described hereinbefore.

What is claimed is:

1. A high speed high temperature heating process for fibrous stock intow form comprising continuous filaments or yarns, said processcomprising subjecting said stock successively to the following stepsbefore introducing the stock into a high temperature and pressuresaturated steaming zone through pressure sealing means;

(a) broadening and straightening the stock to form an even flat layerconsisting of parallel-arranged fibrous stock of 10,000 to 30,000 denierper 10 millimeter of Width;

(b) stretching the fibrous stock in steam to a length beyond thestraightened length of the stock under a positive tension, theconstitutent filaments or yarns of said stock being arranged in aparallel condition;

() passing the stock in a similar condition as above through a paddingbath;

(d) squeezing excess liquid from the resulting padded stock; and

(e) concentrating the resulting flattened fibrous stock into a round towstate.

2. A process as set forth in claim 1, wherein fibrous stock consistingof a crimped tow or tows is stretched from 3 to 10% under a positivetension in steam of nearly C. under atmospheric pressure, allowing aminor and an even wetting of said stock by the steam condensategenerated during stretching prior to passing the stock through thepadding bath.

3. A process as set forth in claim 1, wherein fibrous stock consistingof warped yarns is stretched from 2 to 5% under a positive tension insteam of nearly 100 C. under atmospheric pressure, allowing a m'mor andan even wetting of said stock by the steam condensate generated duringstretching, prior to passing the stock through the padding bath.

4. A process as set forth in claim 1, wherein the padding bath issupplied with a dyeing solution in order to dye the stock.

5. A process as set forth in claim 1, wherein the padding bath issupplied with a bleaching solution in order to bleach the stock.

6. A process as set forth in claim 1, wherein the padding bath issupplied with a scouring solution in order to scour the stock.

7. A process as set forth in claim 1, wherein the padding bath issupplied with a chemical reagent solution in order to treat the stockchemically.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,664,010 12/1953 Emerson 68-5 D2,954,687 10/1960 Yazawa et al. 68-5 E 3,175,375 3/1965 Yazawa et al.a"--- 685 E 3,213,470 10/1965 Yazawa et a1. 68--5 D. 3,241,343 3/1966Yazawa 685 E LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

